Florida Beats Winter Blues Travel

December 08, 1985|by JANE KOCH, The Morning Call

Despite the variety of jet vacation packages to exotic islands, Florida is still top choice for a winter getaway.

The Caribbean may guarantee more constant warmth, but few island places pamper their guests as competently as the first-class resorts of the Sunshine State where food is superior, electricity is reliable, rooms are clean and the plumbing works. Service is usually good, sometimes superb. And unlike the populace on many islands, the natives of Florida welcome visitors.

Easy to reach by car, plane or train,the beach-bordered state is an entrancing mixture of class and kitsch. Pink plastic flamingos perch on manicured lawns, and carved coconut heads leer from souvenir stands at designer jewelry displayed in neighboring boutiques. Discreetly screened mansions share the shoreline with flamboyant hotels of improbable architecture, and the best and worst of fashions can be seen in cities along the coast.

When the climate isn't right for swimming, no one worries. There's always something going on and lots to see. Just about every other sport, for those who participate and for those who watch, can be enjoyed in Florida. Golfers can find suitable challenges everywhere, from northern Amelia Island to the Key West Club. Almost every town and resort has a complex of tennis courts. Anglers and mariners have their choice of fresh water or salt, and campers can find shelter in scores of parks.

Spectators who like to play their hunches divide their time between jai- alai and thoroughbred and greyhound racing. Daytona Beach is a haven for auto racing fans and Palm Beach a paradise for polo players. Football aficionados haunt the home cities of the Dolphins, Bandits, Bulls and Buccaneers. And in the spring, baseball fans migrate to training camps such as Bradenton, Fort Lauderdale, Clearwater, Winter Haven and St. Petersburg to preview their heroes.

Nature students can find a lifetime preoccupation in the gardens, citrus orchards, wildlife refuges and waterways that cover the state. Dolphins and whales perform in aquariums, and zoos in Tampa and Miami are renowned for unusual inhabitants. Eagles and serpents, osprey and alligators seek sanctuary in the Everglades; tiny deer roam protected on the keys, and, at the beaches, taciturn pelicans perch on pier pilings and watch more excitable seabirds squabble as they hop along the ocean's edge.

For persons who like to walk through reminders of other eras, there are communities representing four centuries of history, from 17th-century St. Augustine to space-age Cape Canaveral. Museums are dedicated not only to arts, history and science but also to car racing, the circus, Indian artifacts, seashells, sponges, cartoons, toys and even food containers.

Disney World, the world's largest tourist attraction, occupies 28,000 acres near Orlando. A visit to the Magic Kingdom, Epcot Center and surrounding recreation areas is a vacation in itself. Families spend an average of three days exploring exhibits, enjoying rides - and eating. Each year, 900 tons of chicken, 6 million hamburgers and 3 1/2 million tons of french fries are consumed at Disney World restaurants.

The holidays have begun at the theme park where the traditional Town Square Christmas tree, a 70-foot-tall Douglas fir, is blazing with 5,000 colored lights. At Frontierland's Grizzly Hall, the "audio-animatron ic" Country Bear Jamboree will be presenting "A Country Bear Christmas Special" until Jan. 5. Yesterday, 200 performers made their 1985 debut in "Fantasy on Parade," a procession of colorful marching bands starring Mickey Mouse and his friends enacting scenes from Disney film classics. After Saturday, the parade will be presented daily until Jan. 1. This evening, Howard Keel will be narrator for a candlelight procession featuring a 1,000-voice choir. Mickey Mouse will be host for a Very Merry Christmas Party starting at 8 p.m. Saturday. "Holiday Splendor," a musical withDebby Boone heading a cast of 100 persons, will premier Saturday. It will be repeated Dec. 15, then from Dec. 18 to 23 and again from Dec. 25 to 30.

Throughout December, the United Kingdom Showcase is presenting a Dickens- era holiday for WorldFest. Entertainment includes the Renaissance Players in a comedic version of "A Christmas Carol" and performances by Pearly Kings and Queens and British music hall star Tessie O'Shea.

In Walt Disney World Village, the "Living Nativity" is being staged nightly until Saturday, and again on Dec. 23 and 24.